‘Plan to cut down number of expats irks visa traders’

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Green light on reduction of foreigners in state institutions

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 19: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, the State Minister for Economic Affairs Hind Al- Sabeeh denied that visa traders or influential people are keeping the pressure on her to prevent implementation of the plan to cut down the number of expatriates, reports Al- Rai daily.

She stated irregularities detected in the sector were referred to the General Investigation Department. She noted some 337 violations recorded since the beginning of 2017 have been referred to investigation, and that 302 lawsuits were filed of which 150 are pending in court while 58 have already been judged.

Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) said the number of expatriates working in ministries and government institutions will be gradually reduced, reports Al-Anba daily.

Senior ministerial sources said the government has given a green light to the concerned authorities to reduce the number of expatriates in government institutions upon a recommendation of the Supreme Committee which was formed to amend the demographic structure of the country.

The committee is chaired by the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and the Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh.

The sources said the Committee continues its work vigorously and has taken effective measures to address the imbalance in the demographics without disturbing the labor market and development projects and the needs of the private sector.

The sources pointed out the Public Authority for Manpower has also called upon the government institutions to reduce the number of expatriates in ministries and government institutions by 25 percent in areas of security and cleaning works.

Al-Rai daily said the CSC in conformity with its own policy has ended the services of 20 non-Kuwaitis out of the 106 in the legal, accounting and media departments.

The CSC aims to Kuwaitize the entire commission by next year and set an example and be a role model for others to follow as long as there are Kuwaitis who can do the job that is currently being done by non-Kuwaitis.

Furthermore, the Supreme Committee which was formed to address the demographic imbalance in the country has recommended many ways to make the numbers of Kuwaitis more than the expatriates in the labor market, reports Al-Rai daily.

The recommendations include restriction on the recruitment of domestic workers by imposing higher fees, reducing the number of permits for individual sponsors from five to three per year, and toughening the penalty on violators of residence law by 4 dinars each day and a maximum 1,000 dinars.

The committee has announced steps, procedures and mechanisms to limit the increase in the number of expatriates, which exceeds three times the number of citizens.

The tough measures have resulted in the deportation of 1,238 hawkers and suspension of 1,529 files which was the outcome of security campaigns and the inspections of premises organized by the Interior Ministry and the Public Authority for Manpower to seize violators of residence and labor laws.

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